Permagardens & Peanut Butter

Written by Britni Stupin, TWB Intern

For the past three months, I’ve been living and learning in Kenya as part of a study abroad program at St. Lawrence University. The last month of this program is spent completing an Independent Study anywhere of our choosing, and that’s how I ended up in Rwanda. I heard about The Women’s Bakery from a few past interns, and they always lit up when they shared about their experiences. TWB, I decided, was the right placement for my internship. 

Food insecurity and malnutrition are significant issues within Rwanda, and I spent internship working on two main projects that intertwined with these issues.

First, I researched and created an implementation plan for a permagarden that TWB would create at the Kagina and Ndera bakeries.

What is a permagarden?

In short, it is a sustainable approach to increasing food security by giving control over water use and nutrition within an individuals' own home. I spent a good deal of time researching the specifics of what a permagarden is, how to create one, and its benefits for women at TWB. Part of this research was meeting with women at both bakery sites to discuss the best way to complete this project. Each bakery now plans to plant carrots, beets, and cabbage next planting season.

The second, and tastiest, project, was aptly named “The Peanut Butter Project.” I worked with another intern, Martha, to create a nutritional lesson about the health benefits of peanut butter and how to make it in their homes.

The women at the Ndera and Kagina bakeries were engaged during the lesson and everyone pitched in to help. I’d say it was a success! All the peanut butter was gone almost as soon as we had made it, and the women told me they would be making this nutritious snack to eat for breakfast.

I walked away with a huge smile on my face that day.

If there is anything I have learned about my experience working at TWB it is that women’s empowerment and education can be used to combat food insecurity and malnutrition in the home. By helping women understand the impact food has on their body, TWB is giving women the knowledge they need to feed their families and nurture their health. That's bread power. 

Global Health Corps Fellowship with TWB

First, I squealed, then I teared up: this was finally happening.

Several months ago, I received word that after a six-month application process I had been accepted into the 2017-2018 Global Health Corps Fellowship cohort and was placed at The Women’s Bakery, in Rwanda. I was thrilled, excited, and ready. After months of consideration, it was humbling and energizing to know that I was going to move forward with work that motivates and inspires me.

In September 2016, I moved to Rwanda with the intention of working in health development. Just before leaving the United States, a good friend of mine mentioned a great organization working to empower women through baking: The Women’s Bakery. This friend of mine knew TWB Founder & Co-Director, Markey, from Furman University. As she told me more, I thought I should check it out.

After arriving in Kigali, I quickly engaged with TWB Staff, Meg and Julie, and was intrigued and motivated by the work that TWB was doing with vocational training and business launch. Simultaneously, I heard about the fellowship with Global Health Corps, a program that offers fellowships to those interested in working in the field of global health. I began an application. After months of interviews and documentation, the opportunity I had been waiting for was here! I was working for TWB. It was real, and it was happening.

Now, as Nutrition Coordinator for The Women’s Bakery, I am working on nutrition and health programming at bakeries in Kigali and beyond. I am so enthusiastic to see the impact The Women’s Bakery is having in the communities of which we work.

From women’s health, to mental health, to home health, we have so many programs and ideas to improve the lives of the women we serve. I’ve been given the opportunity to see at a ground level what training and engagement with a group of women can accomplish.

On a daily basis, lives are being impacted one muffin or roll at a time, and I can’t wait to continue to be a part of the change being made through The Women’s Bakery.

Bread & Humanity

Bread and Humanity

Bread, in all its various forms, is the most widely consumed food in the world. Not only is it an important source of carbohydrates, it’s also portable and compact, which helps to explain why it has been an integral part of diet for thousands of years.

In the Rwandan traditional meal, bread was largely unknown. Just like in many parts of Africa, a typical Rwandan meal is potatoes, beans, and ugali. Breakfast for many in Rwanda is something that was never given much importance.

But, again, bread is everywhere: in our narratives, stories, cultures, and histories.

When TWB first began work in Rwanda, people were asking “What is this, how can you make a bread from carrot or banana?” However, the more our breads are found on the market and people continue to try them, the better they understand how good and nutritive they are.

For those who read the Bible, a common story is about when the Israelites left Egypt to go to Canaan. On their way, they got hungry and asked Moses what to eat. Moses asked God for food. God gave them “manna.” When they saw the manna for the first time, they asked, “What is this?” Eventually, they learned that manna could provide them all the sustenance they needed. Bread was the answer.

The first incidence of bread is assumed to be over 6,000 years ago in Egypt, when naturally occurring yeast accidently mixed with porridge and it rose. At The Women’s Bakery, we think this might have been the best accident ever.

Considering the ancient tradition of bread, it’s important to understand the tradition of how humanity first used the basic ingredients to create a delicious, sustaining, pervasive product-- bread.

A great resource for understanding the history and influences of bread is through a series called “Cooked” on Netflix. For the episode titled “Air” author and food expert, Michael Pollan outlines the intricacies and secrets of bread. You can learn more about this documentary here.

Fun facts abound, like how there are 550 million acres of wheat planted around the world, or alternatively, how bread is sacred in some cultures. In Morocco, for example, it is taboo to cut bread with a knife because it’s considered “too violent.” 

Leavening, refined flour, and mechanized slicing helped develop the bread product further as the world has both increased in civilization and mechanized in various parts of the globe. Without leavening, bread is simply flatbread and remains the first iteration of bread to occur: think pitas or tortillas. Grains (to make flour) were originally grounded by rocks, refined in 800 BC by Mesopotamians, using two circular stones stacked on one another: think milling. Slicing used to occur within the home, but around the world, ciabatta and French breads are now pre-sliced– to accompany a warm cup of coffee or tea.

You can get sliced bread in Rwanda now, too. With coffee, or tea, per your liking. Visit us in Remera, Ndera, or Bumba to get a taste. You won’t be sorry. Bread is essential, delicious, and innate to our humanity.

Woah, that’s real #breadpower.

#eatbreadwithtwb #visitus #womensbakery

Why Bread for Breakfast?

No matter where you are in the world, most families take breakfast in the morning.

However, it is not just that they take breakfast, but it is also interesting to know the types of foods that are prepared. Eating breakfast provides energy for your body and gives you drive for the day. Without an adequate breakfast, you are likely to feel inactive and tired throughout the day. By eating a healthful, nutritious breakfast, you are providing your body with important nutrients as well as the energy it needs to perform at its best during the day.

In particular, a breakfast high in fiber and protein can keep you full for longer and prevent tiredness throughout the day.  Eating breakfast has also been shown to improve concentration, meaning you are likely to work more efficiently. However some people still think that a healthful breakfast is expensive and that it is only for rich people. 

Here is the good news - when you take TWB breads for breakfast you are assured that you have eaten a healthful breakfast option. TWB breads are nutritious breads, made using locally available products, and are sold at an affordable price. So stop worrying about where you can get nutritious bread and go to the nearest TWB bakery!  #breadpower

Carrot Bread...Really?!

Two weeks ago, TWB opened a bakery in Remera, Nyabisindu, a very trafficked area in Kigali, where many people depend on daily contracted work for income. Moreover, the diet in this area typically encompasses chapatti and white breads that have a lot of sugar and artificial butter, like most bread products on the market.

The TWB bakers are doing a great job of explaining the unique, nutritional value of our breads. This week, Jean de Dieu, a motorcycle taxi driver, came to the bakery and asked, “What kind of bread is this?” TWB graduate, Liziki replied, “It’s carrot bread.” Jean de Dieu asked again with so much surprise, ”Carrot bread!?! Carrot bread?! Really, how is that possible?”

TWB is actively working to introduce a new product that people are not yet used to. Our breads are unique and nutritive. When customers enter our bakery and we explain that our breads are made from carrots or bananas, just like Jean de Dieu, they ask us how it is possible to make bread from carrots, which many are familiar with as an ingredient for a sauce. 

After we explain to them the nutritive value they have; they taste them, and prefer them over the other types of breads they are used to. Now, that's bread power. 

Nutrition and the Rwanda Diet

Last week, The Women’s Bakery started training for 15 women in Remera, with two groups of women (one from Remera; one from Kanombe; both areas of Kigali). On last Friday and continuing this Wednesday, our training team taught three sessions within our nutrition curriculum content. These included nutrition specifics, building a balanced diet, and various food types. From these lesson deliveries, I learned that understanding the cultural practices behind food and nutrition is complex.

From baseline data collected at the beginning of our program two weeks ago, we better understand the context for nutrition that we are working with. Specifically, we learned that out of 15 women the average number of meals per day per woman is 1.6; the average time eating meat per week is 0; and the average time eating eggs per week is 0. Data of this nature leaves us to question whether financial or educational constraints or both are inhibiting factors to accessing a balanced diet.

However, our nutritional lesson training was encouraging! Some of the concepts from the training had an impact not just on me, but hopefully on the women as well.

1) Understanding the difference between saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats is essential in the Rwanda diet. Where French fries and fried dough are coveted food items, educating our group on choosing unsaturated fat such as avocados or plant oils over trans fats and saturated fats was a huge win.

2) Discussing the difference in nutritional value between juice and raw fruit allowed the women to understand that fiber and other nutrients remained in raw fruit and choosing fruit over juice is always a better option.

3) And, understanding that you can gain protein from other sources other than meat such as soy, groundnuts, and egg was essential.

We are excited to keep working through our nutrition education with the women and can’t wait to see what they have to say about the nutrition in our bread recipes!